A government cover-up.  Policies established that cater to industry.  A few officials pulling the strings.  Millions of dollars at stake.  And a lone report that trades hands under the cover of night exposing the plot.  We have all seen fictionalized  stories unfold at the movies, and have undoubtedly read actual accounts that now comprise the annals of history  and are so named with the all too famous and fashionable suffix “GATE.”

But this time we have another variable entering the conspiracy equation…burrowing owls.  In a California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG)  document recently obtained by JournOwl.com and followed by subsequent conversations held under the condition of anonymity, CDFG management has been sitting on a report designed to “Provide guidance that supersedes and augments or clarifies the Department’s Staff Report on Burrowing Owl Mitigation” for the last 2 years.  And during this time burrowing owls have continually been subjected to CDFG approved relocation and eviction plans that are recognized as inadequate and may be contributing to the decline of the species in the Bay Area and California.

The report ubiquitously recognizes that because burrowing owls are dependent on burrows for survival and reproduction, excluding them from nesting, roosting, and satellite burrows on a project site may actually lead to direct or indirect take and therefore is a violation of Federal and State laws.  The report, which would take advantage of temporary opportunities to conserve burrowing owls while longer-term regional programs and conservation plans are developed, recommends a change to standard mitigation developed by CDFG and the Burrowing Owl Consortium in the early to mid 90s because it does not compensate for habitat that is actually lost.

According to sources within the CDFG:

“They are trying to quickly revise it [report] without the input of CDFG burrowing owl experts to allow developers to do what they want to do.”

In essence we are looking at a state agency responsible for species conservation, yet through antiquated policies have aligned themselves with developers and are ignoring conservation actions “needed to maintain viable burrowing owl populations in California and to help prevent the need to list this species under the state or federal endangered species acts.”

CDFG sources have also told JournOwl.com that the report, “…has been held up because management doesn’t seem to like asking developers to do what the report says needs to be done to conserve species.”

However, this is not the first time burrowing owls have been subjected to a CDFG cover-up.  During a 2003 petition to list the burrowing owl under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), a department report that recommended listing was concealed from the public while a new contradictory report was generated.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity in 2004:

“The improperly withheld report evaluated a formal petition to list the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) submitted by conservation organizations in April of 2003. The California Fish and Game Commission voted 4-0 in December 2003 to reject the burrowing owl petition, based in part on a second contradictory CDFG report blatantly biased against listing and widely criticized by conservationists and owl experts as fraught with inaccuracies and inconsistencies. In contrast, the report CDFG refused to release to the Commission and the public recommended that the owl be immediately protected as a “Candidate” species while a year-long status review was conducted by DFG.”

A letter requesting immediate action and intervention, along with copies of the CDFG report,  an eviction plan recently implemented in Antioch, CA, and the buried 2003 petition recommending CESA protection has been registered with Attorney General Brown, Governor Schwarzenegger, and CDFG Director McCamman.  

An inquiry left with the CDFG Deputy Director Kevin Hunting has not been returned.

Tags: Antioch Burrowing Owls, Burrowing owl mitigation, burrowing owl report, burrowing owls, California Department of Fish and Game, CDFG

This entry was posted by Scott on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 1:49 pm and is filed under Commentary, Endangered species, Migratory Birds, Owls, Wildlife, Wildlife management, birds, conservation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.